Perth

Barcelona Spanish Video

See Ya Later

Harriet G

RLA CD

December 16th

See Ya Later

One of the most difficult things everyone has to learn is that for your entire life you must keep fighting and adjusting if you hope to survive. No matter who you are or what your position is you must keep fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve. - George Allen Sr.

Curriculum, uniform, new expectations, fitting in, size of the school, co-education, fear of the unknown and the challenges of moving to a new school. Picture this, a new girl in school who skipped half a school year, and doesn’t know anybody in her class. Afraid she might be judged for who she is, and unaware of how she will catch up to school work. That was me, but not only did I have to move schools, I moved countries too. I believe that while adjusting to new situations is difficult to deal with, it makes stronger individuals.

Let’s face it; kids aren’t always nice to the new girl, even if they act nice in class because the teacher is there. Moving in the middle of the year, kids have already made their friends, and don’t want anyone to break into their friendship groups. I was in this situation, and trust me, if you haven’t moved before it can be seriously hard. The teachers put a lot of effort into helping “the new girl” make friends, but it didn’t help me because I just didn’t fit in or know what is normal. I was nice to all the kids in class, but then I was teased for being friends with the “weird nerds.” The point is, it was hard for me to come prepared for something I had never done before, and I learned that in order to succeed I must have grit and persevere no matter what happens.

Friends weren’t my only challenge though, the expectations and difficulty at my old school was totally different to what I had to deal with now. At SAS, I had homework every day that was compulsory.  At SAS the curriculum was different, so I had to learn much harder algorithms that were quite challenging. And finally, at SAS tests were always just around the corner, so I had a lot more stress on my mind than what I was used to. But I had to work through my struggles and I learnt that life isn’t invariably going to be easy, individuals have to adjust to get through situations, and I became stronger when I did so.

Learning to not react when people said mean things to me was also something I had to learn to deal with when I moved to Singapore. I tended to be quite sensitive when

I moved, and my feelings were easily hurt. I was having a hard time adjusting - making friends and catching up to school work. I learnt that if I wanted to make friends, I would have to be strong and less sensitive. If I hadn’t persevered with this, I probably wouldn’t have any friends to this day. But, I tried my best and I eventually adjusted to school, so now I have plenty friends and I became a stronger person.

What I fear most is that if kids nowadays don’t receive help from their peers, when they become adults they will still have issues in trying to fit into new situations like the workplace and college. So next time you see another kid having trouble fitting in, help in and reach out to them. Give them some tips and share your own story. Because you can make a big difference by empathizing for other people and letting them know that they are not alone, fitting in and adjusting to situations is something all individuals will encounter in their lives. To reiterate, I believe that while adjusting to new situations is difficult to deal with, it makes stronger individuals.

My Photo Travel Journal

Center image: My brother and I having waffles. This breathtaking situation was really important for my brother and I thought it really stood out because of how nice it was for me to see him eating what he always craves after such a long time of being off wheat and dairy. In Singapore, his skin would flair up miserably and he would have to go to hospital if he ate a waffle, however, during our stay in the US we noticed he was able to have things he would normally react to which is quite amazing. So, one day in New York, my mom allowed my brother to have a waffle. I felt really happy for him, and also relieved. Surprisingly, he did not react. This was a really nice moment for my brother, and I also think it stood out in our holiday.

King Tut's Sarcophagus Reflection

I chose King Tut's Sarcophagus because I wanted to find out more about King Tut and what the Ancient Egyptians used to make a sarcophagus. I made my artifact out of gingerbread, wafer, fondant, gold flakes, and sprinkles. One obstacle I faced while I was making my artifact was when I first started making it out of clay, but then I realized that some of the clay was too hard to use and I ran out of clay. So, I brainstormed ideas and made my sarcophagus out of products that I had a lot of and I came up with a sarcophagus made out of food. In this project, I realized that you must always have a detailed plan in order to succeed.